Montepulciano is preparing to celebrate a remarkable encounter between wine, history and the United States. On June 19, 2026, at 4:30 p.m., in the Sala del Consiglio of the Palazzo Comunale, the Tuscan town will host the preview presentation of Il gusto della libertà. Thomas Jefferson, il Vino Nobile di Montepulciano e la nascita degli Stati Uniti, published by Il Pensiero Scientifico Editore.
The book is written by Francesco Clementi, professor of Comparative Public Law at Sapienza University of Rome, and Antonio Gaudioso, a public policy expert and lecturer at Luiss “Guido Carli” University. Together, they explore the cultural bridge linking Thomas Jefferson, Filippo Mazzei and Vino Nobile di Montepulciano – a wine that became part of a broader story about liberty, diplomacy and transatlantic exchange.
The timing is especially meaningful. In 2026, the United States marks 250 years since the Declaration of Independence, while Montepulciano also honors the 400th anniversary of the birth of Francesco Redi, the 17th-century physician, scientist and poet who famously celebrated the wine of Montepulciano in Bacco in Toscana.
The volume recalls Jefferson’s deep interest in European wines and his belief that agriculture, taste and civilization were closely connected. It also highlights Mazzei, the Tuscan patriot and friend of Jefferson, whose ideas helped shape the language of American freedom and whose world naturally intersected with the vineyards of Tuscany.
Vino Nobile di Montepulciano holds a special place in Italian wine history. It received DOCG recognition in 1980 and remains one of the great symbols of Tuscany’s winemaking identity. Through Clementi and Gaudioso’s research, the wine becomes more than a celebrated label – it becomes a lens through which to view the relationship between Italy and America.
The result is a story of wine, ideas and friendship across the Atlantic – rooted in Montepulciano, but connected to the birth of the United States.
